On Feb. 26, the Daily published a story with the line “Deja Vu” referring to our men’s basketball team’s loss to Kansas. This wasn’t the only instance of deja vu we felt as a university that day. As a result, almost instantly after the loss, two ISU students made racial slurs and threats towards one of the KU players via Twitter. If you remember, almost exactly a year ago, we had a similar instance concerning racial slurs by ISU students that resulted in the removal of the “Just Sayin’” section of the Daily.

As of right now, there is an investigation being handled by the university, so I cannot comment on what will be done to these students as a result.

This incident brings up the much bigger question about race relations and racism here on the ISU campus. Last year during a campus-wide meeting with students, faculty and administrators, we heard heart-wrenching stories about specific instances of racism on our campus. This seemed to spark interest on these issues, but like any other big news story, it faded away into the past.

One year later, we find ourselves in the same place. As a student, I find this very troubling, but also a true manifestation of a part of our society we must consciously work to fix. Racism was not left in the civil rights era and was not eliminated with the abolishment of racist and unequal laws. I also find it troubling that in our society, speaking out about race issues is such a taboo topic of conversation.

There is no place for comments like this on our campus, or any other for that matter. It is unfortunate there are a lot of students at Iowa State that can give examples of racism on campus, but they often go unheard and/or ignored. There needs to be a conscious ongoing effort by students and faculty to deal with these issues. It is too often the case we feel uneasy or uncomfortable speaking about these issues, but if we want to keep moving forward in our efforts to create a welcoming environment for all students, this is a conversation that must be had and discussed often.

As a university, we are a place for learning and growth, but no student should have to be subject to racist language like that. The comments were made toward a KU student but offended many more people.

As a Cyclone, I hold other Cyclones to a higher standard. It is fair to say that most students here disagree with those tweets, but some questions to you are: “What about the instances on campus that often go unpublicized?” “Why do we only wait for a major instance to talk about race issues on campus?” “Is there a campus culture that makes this seem okay?”

In closing, I urge you, as Iowa Staters or otherwise, to start these hard and awkward conversations, whether it be with friends, family or classmates. Hopefully, there will be a forum or designated space to speak on these issues in the near future.